Tony Hawk's Downhill JamActivision (Playstation 2)
The PS2 rendition of Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam marks the 6,562nd entry into the series--well, doesn't it at least feel that way? I love the Tony Hawk series as much as the next guy--it's easily the greatest extreme sports franchise of all time, with only the SSX series hot on its heels yet still a country mile away--but it's hard for gamers that don't have a Swiss bank account to possibly afford every new release that comes down the pike. The series has went through so many changes that it's impossibly hard to gauge what's reinvention and what's rehashing of a reinvention...if that makes any sense whatsoever.
The Nintendo Wii version of Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam was fleeting fun at best, a dull novelty at worst. The PS2 offering mainly sticks to the script (or code, if you will) of its Wii counterpart, outside of the "handlebar" control scheme that only the Big N's darling can provide. So, what do PS2 owners get in return for lack of motion-sensored grinding? More of everything else, from more extra characters to more multiplayer options to more challenges to more exclusive events...
...But is this all enough to buy another Tony Hawk game? The answer is yes and no.
